The Dangers of Being popular
AS
IN MOST INDUSTRIES,
wine has a list of the usual suspects. Inevitably, in almost
every wine store or restaurant they show up, and consumers
are drawn to them. To a degree it’s hard to blame the wine
buyer for this when these labels have so much positive force
behind them. The first, and to some the most important,
factor is the level of marketing by the producer or the
importer. Multi-million dollar campaigns from top marketing
companies take a great deal of the difficulty out of the
sale, convincing their target market that the wine is good
and that they, the consumer, should try it. They are doing
our work for us, so why shouldn’t we, as wine professionals,
be happy about this? I will even admit that a campaign
picturing a very attractive mermaid with a come hither look
over her shoulder caught my eye. I won’t name the wine, but
I’ll give you a hint: her tail wasn’t the usual green. Then
there is the price factor. Oftentimes, these wines have very
attractive pricing. If they aren’t the lowest, they
certainly can be with 5 and 1O case drops. The best scenario
here is if you are lucky enough to be targeted as one of the
locations that their product must be in. Pricing,
promotional product and events now are at your beck and
call.
So what’s the
down side of buying and selling wines with significant
corporate backing behind them? The first is the
pervasiveness of the product, which works against you if the
consumer remembers its price in a venue other than your own.
This can be especially hard on restaurants, but also affects
retail shops. The consumer thinks, “Why should I pay $3O for
this wine in a restaurant when I can buy it down the street
at my wine shop for $15?” Or, “How can you as a wine store
charge $15 for this wine? That’s outrageous, I’ll buy it at
my supermarket for $11.” This is an age-old argument that
should be avoided whenever possible. Dare I say that this is
one of the exceptions to the customer-is-always-right rule.
There are legitimate reasons for different prices on the
same wine in different venues; however you’ll never win this
argument, not where it counts.
Another downside
is the possibility of poor food and wine pairings. This
could affect the cuisine of a particular restaurant or pop
up in one season across restaurants. The cuisine of a
restaurant may be the direct opposite of the wines being
offered. The food is great, the wine with the well-known
name is good, then the two are mixed and disaster happens.
One day, perhaps, the majority of our clientele will have a
greater understanding of food and wine and will know that
the food before them can be wonderful and the wine
outstanding, but shouldn’t necessarily be taken together.
Alas this day has not arrived. Because the consumer knows
the wine as a good one, the food gets the blame and the
customer doesn’t return. Unfortunately, I have seen a number
of restaurants where the fare of the house and the wine
program have nothing, or at best very little, in common with
one another. This seems to occur most often with a list of
the usual suspects, where the restaurateur is relying more
on well-known wines than true wine expertise to build a wine
list.
What is the
alternative to popular, corporate-backed brands? Actively
seeking quality labels that are only on-premise for
restaurants or off-premise wines that don’t have 2O case
drops in supermarkets. I won’t sugar coat it, there is work
involved to achieve this. Fortunately it’s a lot of fun at
times – it requires research, which requires tasting a lot
of wine.
If you invest in
finding these wines, it opens two key advantages for you,
the wine buyer. First, now that you have a label that is
unknown or relatively exclusive, what you charge for the
wine is a smaller component of being competitive. This is
not advocating for price gouging, but rather for building
educated buying. That aforementioned bottle that the
consumer was complaining about at $3O because it’s cheaper
at a store can be listed at $35 without complaint if the
quality of the wine supports such a price. Your beverage
cost has decreased while the potential for client loyalty
grounded in a great wine experience has dramatically
increased. Second, although the multimillion-dollar ad
campaign is no longer a factor working in your favor, your
staff becomes a valuable asset. Because they are educated
about this particular wine and your menu, what cuisine it
works with is now a unique element in your establishment.
The more reasons you give your client to walk in your door,
the more reasons you’ll see them return. And that is the
kind of popularity we are all after.
